FIRST TRADE: Indices inch higher amid strong global cues; Dr Reddy's Labs up over 1%

Stock market today: Domestic blue-chip indices inched higher tracking gains in global equities, with investors focused on minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting for clues on rate cuts.

Last seen, both indices were up 0.11 per cent, Sensex rose 74.97 points at 74,028.28 and Nifty was up 25.55 points at 22,554.6. 

"One inference that can be drawn from institutional activity this month is that there is no excessive concern regarding the much talked about election results jitters. Net institutional selling is almost nil since the FII selling of Rs 37,500 crore has been neutralised by DII buying of Rs 37,369 crore so far this month," said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Dr. V K Vijayakumar added it is important to understand that FII selling has been triggered by the outperformance of Chinese stocks which nudged FIIs to sell in expensive India and buy in cheap Hong Kong. Therefore, institutional activity does not reflect any election-related jitters. The decline in India VIX by nine per cent in recent days also indicates a return of stability in the market.

He believes the market is likely to respond to the election outcome earlier than June 4. Investors can consider buying stocks before the results. Priority can be given to largecaps which are fairly valued compared to the broader market where valuations are much higher. 

A possibility around the election results time is both FIIs and DIIs turning buyers lifting the large caps and the indexes to higher levels.

In the broader market, Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 traded in the green. High-beta Nifty Bank was down 0.26 per cent at 47,925.4.

BUZZING STOCKS

Metropolis Healthcare shares were up over 4 per cent after the company's posted strong Q4 results.

JK Tyres & Industries shares were up over 6 per cent after the company reported strong Q4 results.

Laxmi Organic Industries shares were up over 4 per cent after the company reported strong Q4 results.
 
Gulf Oil Lubricants India shares were up over 5 per cent after the company reported good Q4 results.

G R Infraprojects shares were up over 3 per cent after the company was declared an L-1 bidder from MSRDCL for two projects.

H.G. Infra Engineering shares were up over 11 per cent after the company was declared an L-1 bidder from MSRDC for two EPC projects worth a total of Rs 4,142 crore.

PNC Infratech shares were up nearly 5 per cent after it was declared as the L1 bidder for a project worth Rs 4,994 crore from Maharashtra State Road Transportation. 

Apollo Tyres shares were up over 2 per cent as a block deal is expected. 

Conversely, BHEL shares were down nearly 3 per cent after the company posted below-estimated Q4 results. 

Catch all the updates of the May 22 session on Dalal Street here. For all other news related to business, politics, tech and auto, visit Zeebiz.com. 

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